Exxon case leads to freeze of $12 billion in Venezuelan assets

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Exxon Mobil has obtained a court order freezing up to $12 billion of Venezuela's state-owned oil company's worldwide assets after the government of President Hugo Chavez forced the company out of two joint ventures last year, a company spokeswoman said Thursday.

Britain's High Court barred Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. from selling assets worldwide up to $12 billion, Exxon Mobil spokeswoman Margaret Ross said.

The judgment stems from Venezuela's June decision to take control of two projects it had entered into with Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil company.

One, the Cerro Negro Project, was projected to yield 1.5 billion barrels of oil over 35 years.

Ross said Exxon Mobil also has obtained attachment orders against PdVSA from courts in the Netherlands and the Dutch Caribbean islands seeking another $12 billion each, and is seeking another attachment order of approximately $300 million against the Venezuelan company in a federal court in New York.

In a January 24th filing in New York, PdVSA argued that Exxon Mobil "has failed to sustain its burden of establishing that an arbitration award may be rendered ineffectual without the provisional remedy of attachment."

In a statement, Exxon Mobil said the orders are subject to further review by the courts and would not comment further on legal proceedings. E-mail to a friend

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